loss of sense of smell after brain surgery

[needshelp85]

Hi

I am 22 and I recently (about 3 months ago) had brain surgery after i fell and hit my head in the bathroom. Since the surgery i have not been able to smell any other smells..everything i eat smells very much like the smell of barbeque and every perfume i've tried on so far has the very same smell. I keep hoping that my sense of smell will recover but it's been three months and nothing has changed.

Will this be a permanent side effect of the surgery or will I be able to recover from it?

[alanf05]

Could be a good thing! No, being flippant. This is common in brain injury/trauma. Your surgeon should have advised such. Whether you regain this sense is from lierature, largely a 'wait and see'

[Help4ourSon]

Our son lost his sense of smell after brain injury and brain surgeries.  He has noticed his sense of taste heightened and he can still "memory" smell.  Try to have familiar scents around you and stimulate the olfactory system even if you don't recognize the smell.  He went through lemon drops, pickles and other taste/smell stimulating foods for a long time.  Some people get it back, he didn't but the other senses have compensated.

[Help4ourSon]

Sorry I forgot to mention.  The sense of smell is important, it connects to the deep brain region and can cause some depression with the loss.  We try to compensate with vivid colored foods, crunchy textures.  Make sure your home has CO2 and smoke detectors.